Agenda item

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive and Director for Families and Communities

Members were informed that, whilst the role of local authorities had diminished as the autonomy and accountability of individual schools and trusts and the Regional Schools Commissioner had increased, the County Council still retained the duties to manage the supply and demand for primary and secondary schools places in its area and to secure a place for every child of  statutory age who wants one.  By September 2019 the County Council would have successfully opened six new free schools at a cost of around £60 million (in addition to the value of land used for the schools).

Where local population growth was forecast, largely from local plan housing by borough and district councils, more school places would be necessary through school expansion or new schools.  The Committee were informed that there was a degree of complexity and uncertainty to the capital funding for school places and it was important that the County Council managed its capital programme well, gained best value from its investment and took advantage of partnership.  Members discussed the importance of new school buildings being energy efficient and were reassured that this was the case.  They also sought assurances that the authority received all the funding that it was entitled to under Section 106 Agreements with developers.  They were informed that these contributions were pursued robustly, both in the case of new developments and school expansions.

A member commented that the opening of new schools could have a destabilising effect on the existing schools in the area.  Members were informed that new schools were considered “free schools”, with the same legal status as academies, and could be opened by one of two routes:

·         Free school presumption – a local authority-managed process, where the local authority seek applications from academy trusts to open a new free school and recommends a preferred sponsor to the DfE.  However, the local authority would be responsible for any capital funding shortfall.

·         Free school wave – a DfE-managed process, where the DfE invites applications to open new free schools and informs the local authority of the successful sponsor.  Schools with less than 420 places must follow the presumption route.

Under both routes, the final decision on the successful sponsor is taken by the Secretary of State for Education.  The churches representative informed members that the diocese was keen to offer parents the option of Church of England Schools.  The Cabinet Member informed the Committee that any free school presumption had to be open and transparent and priority was not given to any sponsors.

The Committee considered forecasts of the funding which would be required to invest in new and expanded schools over the next 10-15 years.  Whilst the five-year programme was forecast to be fully funded, it was essential that the County Council continued to negotiate contributions from developers and lobby for continued support from government.

It was suggested that it would be helpful to have a hierarchy of preferences for utilising Section 106 funding.  It was agreed that there was a need for greater cooperation over planning in the County between the County Council, Districts and Boroughs to provide stronger, more unified responses.  Members suggested that that officers investigate further the arrangements around Section 106 Agreements, particularly focusing on expansion and collaboration.  In relation to a query about the quality of new school buildings and their lifecycle and longevity, members were assured that they were well constructed to clear specifications by experienced and knowledgeable contractors.

The Chairman referred to concerns about capacity around Pupil Referral Units, which were not included in the report but were on the Work Programme.  The Cabinet Member undertook to bring an item on this to a future meeting, focusing on physical capacity and measures to ensure that the Units were operating in the right way.

RESOLVED – That:

a)    The work to date to open six new schools in Staffordshire, the forecast and funding for new schools over the next five years and beyond and the best value delivered in the building of new free schools be noted; and

b)    The Cabinet Member investigate the utilisation of Section 106 funding further to see if further collaboration between partners was achievable so that a County-wide agreement could be made.